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Announcing the 2017 ALKU Scholarship Winner!

With the generous support of ALKU CEO and Founder, Mark Eldridge, MMP launched the ALKU Scholarship in 2015. This educational award helps rising high school seniors further their academic pursuits and attend a four-year college or university. Since its launch, we’ve seen two driven and gifted students, Ronique Williams and Marta Pleitez-Hercules, embark on their college careers at UMass Dartmouth. This year, we will officially welcome our 3rd ALKU Scholarship winner, Daniel Mbusa at our annual Cheers to Mentoring event, happening on October 11th!

The 2017 ALKU Scholarship winner, Daniel, is a senior at North High School in Worcester, Massachusetts and attends the African Community Education (ACE) program. As one of MMP’s partner programs, ACE works with African refugee and immigrant youth and families in achieving educational and social stability through access to academic support, leadership development, cultural expression and community outreach. After high school, Daniel hopes to study physics or biology, and continue his love of learning for science and math.

Support Through Mentoring

Since Daniel moved from Uganda to Worcester in 2013, his mentor, Frank, has been a great source of support. Working together, Daniel has been able to make great accomplishments in courses like Pre-Calculus and Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Bioinformatics and Computational Biology High School Summer Research Program, while also taking on many responsibilities within his family. Daniel is grateful for Frank’s ongoing encouragement and assistance as he navigates the college application process.

“Heis not one to credit himself alone for his achievements; he would see himself as a humble beneficiary of the guidance, hard work, and blessings of many people, including his mother, his math teacher, his pastor, and me.”

- Frank, Daniel's mentor

Frank and Daniel’s relationship illustrates the power of mentoring in our communities, and how the presence of supportive adults can help students explore, reach, learn and evolve. MMP and ALKU are proud to be presenting Daniel with this year’s ALKU Scholarship, and are excited to see what lies ahead for him. Do you know a young person who would make a great candidate for the ALKU Scholarship? The 2018 application cycle is now open! Learn more.